In this week's Power Up Gaming Blog, Glen Ferris finds himself satisfying one's blood-lust with the barbarically beautiful Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine...
The Review
Sporty and outdoorsy as I am (yeah, right), the dark and mysterious realm known as the Games Workshop is not somewhere I’ve spent too much time in the past. Perhaps it’s the thought of getting RSI from painting those little miniatures or being pwned by seasoned RPG types, but I’ve always given it a bit of a swerve when walking down the high street. So it’s with no small amount of surprise that I found myself immensely enjoying Space Marine.
Based on Games Workshop’s hugely popular and densely impenetrable (if you’re an outsider, that is) Warhammer 40,000, it’s set in a far-flung future world where bad-ass intergalactic soldiers kick seven shades of green out of their Ork enemies in the name of the God Emperor. It’s bloody and brutal and perfect fodder for video game treatment.
The third-person set-up plonks you over the armour-clad shoulder of Captain Titus (voiced by Brit actor Mark Strong) and finds you leading a group of Ultramarines on a mission to repel an invasion on a distant and strategically important planet.
It’s a fun story that benefits from some committed voice acting (all ‘I swear by the Emperor’ this and ‘Death is glory’ that) and striking apocalyptic-tinged design work, but its success is mostly down to the relentless pace of the action. Captain Titus can carry up to four guns, a melee weapon and frag grenades at any one time, and you’ll need the lot as you hand out death certificates to wave after wave of evil Ork. So fuelled by death and destruction are the Ultramarines, in fact, that health is regenerated by performing special executions on enemies – it’s a clever twist on the health pack tradition which can be tricky to pull off but is incredibly rewarding when in the midst of a bad guy rumble.
The gore-packed shenanigans extend themselves to a basic but fun multiplayer in which either Death Match or King Of The Hill are on offer and XP points let you get your hands on bigger and more destructive boomsticks.
It’s not a perfect title – the Orks have a very limited vocabulary which can get irritating and the big boss fights can get pretty fiddly – but the splatter-heavy gameplay more than makes it worth picking up and playing. Games Workshop may well have found a new fan… I’m still not bothering with the miniatures though.
Better Layton than never…
Fans of stovepipe hat-wearing, DS-dwelling detectives will be cock-a-hoop to hear that Professor Layton is soon to return for more puzzle-solving in Professor Layton And The Spectre’s Call.
The follow-up to The Curious Village, Pandora’s Box and The Lost Future tells of how the eponymous prof first met his soon-to-be trusty assistant Luke as he investigates the case of the Misthallery spectre. It’s chock-full of genuinely brain-scratching puzzles and oh-so gorgeous hand-drawn-style animation. So, with the story set firmly in prequel territory, there’s no better time than November 25 to get your head in this game.
X-Fighters Hit The Spot…
Before the Red Bull X-Fighters tear it up Down Under when they visit Sydney, Australia, for the first time on September 17, you can put yourself on centre stage of the RBXF World Tour with the hugely popular official game, now available to download on Xbox Live Arcade and PC.
Red Bull X-Fighters takes you to six prime locations - London, Mexico City, Madrid, Rome, Moscow and Giza - and challenges you to pull off some crazy tricks as you launch yourself 100 feet into the air. Gamers can also compete against friends and show off their scores in the extensive online leaderboards.
Red Bull X-Fighters is available now for 800 Microsoft Points on Xbox Live Arcade and $9.99 on PC via Steam.
Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour - E3 2011: Tricky Jumps ...
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